The repair of damaged tendons, especially in the palm of the hand, as well as in other locations, causes severe problems. The conventional method of implantation of tendons in cases of severe injuries of the hand requires three surgical operations, namely, the implantation of a silicon rod; its removal after a period of about six weeks; and the insertion into the thus created tunnel of a tendon taken from a donor site of the body. In cases of attachment to a finger, there is created a "window" in the finger bone and inserting the end of the tendon into same, connecting it by means of a stainless steel wire which is tied to a button on the other side of the bone. The suture of flexor tendons in the palm of the hand, in the region called "no man's land" is often functionally unsuccessful due to adhesions of the tendon to neighboring tissues. This is the reason why substitution of a torn tendon by a new one is generally resorted to. In cases of destruction of tendons, these are replaced by donor tendons from other body sites or by prosthetic tendons. One of the more serious problems of prosthetic tendons (hereinafter PT), is their adhesion to surrounding tissues.
It is one of the objects of the present invention to overcome this problem, and to provide PT which are mechanically strong, can be implanted in one step, and which do not cause problems of adhesion.